Family Matters
by DigitalStoryteller
Summary: He believed the kids were better off without seeing her.


A lithe, attractive woman barged through a set of white double-doors. Her long chestnut hair flowed freely behind her and her dark blue dress with astronomical patterns was securely around her slim figure.

In the waiting room cluttered with newspapers, magazines and brochures she encountered a blue-clad man. He was well-dressed, complete with a waistcoat, jacket, pants and leather shoes. A golden, circular badge was embedded in his lapel.

"Where are they? _Where are they?_" demanded the woman. To the world, she was once famous as Thalassa Gramerye. Now she was recognised by her music stage name Lamiroir. At that very moment, she was just Thalassa, mother of two and concerned for her children.

Very concerned.

Phoenix Wright rose to his full height and showed his palms, intended as a placating gesture. He could tell she was agitated. Worried. Her eyes swivelled in her sockets wildly, she was breathing rapidly, and sweat clung to her skin on her cheeks and neck.

"It's alright, it's OK. They're safe. Trucy and Apollo are just somewhere behind those doors," he gestured aimlessly to a set of doors behind him. Phoenix turned back to Thalassa. "They're in good hands."

Shuddering out a breath, Thalassa closed her eyes and counted to ten. When she opened them again, Phoenix was gazing patiently at her.

"I came as soon as I could." She started to go around Phoenix. "I want to see them."

He sidestepped and halted her movement. "I'm afraid I can't let you do that." His arms were at his sides. His mouth was set in a thin line. Dark blue eyes blinked and sympathy shined in them.

She stared at him as if he'd announced the sky was green. That was the most absurd thing she'd heard in her life, and Thalassa had absolutely zero interest in playing along with the reinstated attorney. Yet she found herself asking:

"Why not?"

Phoenix turned his head to the side, as if he was considering how to answer. Finally, after an agonising few seconds of silence, he looked at her. "I don't think this is a good time. Do you think it's a good time?"

Thalassa was shocked. Here this man was standing before her and denying her to see her children. The gall of him!

"I want to see Trucy and Apollo. I want to see my children," she said as calmly as she could.

Phoenix's face darkened. Shadows formed under his eyes. He stepped forward. "_Your_ children? How in any goddamn way are they _your kids_?" he growled.

Thalassa faltered. Her mouth was agape. She'd frozen on the spot. And what an opening it was for Phoenix Wright.

"You can stop right there. They may have your genes, but that doesn't give you any proper right to call them your own. You never raised them, or at least one of them. You left Apollo on the doorstep of a foster home and ran off! Do you have any idea of the shit he's going through? He's barely survived a bomb explosion and –"

"That's why I'm here!" Thalassa cried.

"- and his best friend was murdered only a few days ago! If you pretended to be in any way a mother to Apollo, you'd at least know a little about his life, like the name of his best friend."

"His friend's name is Clay Terran," she found herself replying indignantly.

"You only know that because of the trial. You were there, I saw you. Don't deny it. Third row, close to the door."

Closing her mouth, she stared at the lawyer.

Phoenix continued his rant. "Losing your memory and forgetting Trucy, I get that. Those were circumstances beyond your control. But Apollo? You didn't need to give him up. You never had to."

"You don't understand! Nobody does!" Thalassa yelled. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to leave your child in the care of strangers?" She laughed bitterly. "You think I had a choice? My father would have never accepted me. His desire to carry on a 'flawless' Gramerye line didn't fit in with me and former husband's plans."

"You should have chosen Apollo over your dad."

"I would've had nothing, and what sort of a future is that for a son? No money, no accommodation, no job. Nothing. It was the only way both of us to survive and have something instead of nothing."

Phoenix knitted his brows and curled the corners of his lips. "For almost his whole life, Apollo had nobody. Nobody to look up to, no proper family."

'And that's on your shoulders,' he thought. "At least now, he has me and Trucy… And well, there's Athena, the newbie."

Her hazel eyes widened in horror. "You can't claim him as your son."

"Actually, I can. I'm already a dad to Trucy, and since they're half-siblings… Well, it doesn't take a genius to figure out it isn't that hard to adopt him."

"I don't have to say a word to them. I'll be in and out, in just a couple minutes. Please, Mr Wright."

Phoenix showed his left hand, making the V sign. "OK, two problems with that. One – it's kinda suspicious when a stranger shows up in a room full of familiar people at the bedside of someone in the hospital. It'll just attract a whole bunch of questions. Two, Trucy will recognise you."

Thalassa's pretty face rippled into a frown. "And? How's this a bad thing?"

"Four words: worst family reunion ever. Trucy had enough stress dealing with your 'death'. At a young age, it can be very traumatising. But she's a strong, brave little girl. For you to appear out of nowhere now and say, 'Oh remember me? We met during a trial a year ago. By the way, I'm your mother' -"

Phoenix locked on to the Borginian singer's eyes. He asked softly, "- How do you think she'll react?"

Thalassa's mind whirred. She'd imagined her daughter to be overjoyed with her return, but now… now she wasn't so certain. Then, it dawned on her. Hazel eyes hardened, simmering with anger.

"You didn't tell them. _You didn't tell them._ You didn't tell –"

Cutting in shortly, Phoenix said, "Of course I didn't! How useful is that information for them? Both of them have dealt with so much in their lives. Apollo growing in the foster system, Truce stuck with a dad who hadn't been enough on his own. Polly lost his No.1 pal because of a saboteur and Trucy had supported me and herself until I could find a semi-decent job. Just when they've found a place they can call home, people they call family –"

He was proud to be accepted as family by the people under his care.

Thalassa and Phoenix were almost nose-to-nose. "- And you want to come in and take that away from them? No. I won't let you. You'd yank the rug out from under them, rupture their world. Truce and Apollo don't need any more shocks in their lives. They're coping with enough as it is."

'Especially Polly,' his mind added.

Thalassa stared at him. "How can you do this? How can you deny a mother the right to visit her children? How dare you! That's a crime almost horrendous as murder!"

"Don't go dramatic on me, Thalassa," Phoenix rolled his eyes. The brunette jerked back, eyes flashing in alarm. Her shoulders went rigid.

"Oh sorry, 'Lamiroir'," drawled the attorney. "I forgot."

She quivered with rage. Her slender arms shook.

'Enough of this,' she thought. 'I don't have to play along.' She circled Phoenix and started towards the white double-doors.

"Take one more step," Phoenix called after her, "and I'll make sure you won't get past those doors." He might've as well said, 'You'll never see your children again.'

She paused, turned back, looked at him. "Or else what? You'll drag me out of the Hickfield Clinic?"

He smirked confidently at Thalassa. Oh, how she hated the way his lips formed that cruel smile.

"No. I'll do one better," said Phoenix as he approached her. Once more, he barred her path, his back facing the doors.

Taking out his mobile phone, Phoenix showed it to Thalassa. "I can call the Chief Prosecutor, and make sure you're outta here in less than five minutes."

"That's abuse of authority!" snarled the brunette. "No one should be able to do something like that!"

"Tough. Sometimes you have to flex the rules to get the right result," Phoenix gave a lazy shrug.

His face morphed into an angry mask and he pointed at her. "Don't make me file a restraining order on you."

Thalassa closed her eyes and bowed her head. She could sense the tears welling up in her eyes. She had come to the clinic with just one purpose: see her children.

She looked at Phoenix. "This isn't over. This is _not _over."

"Something we can both agree on," Phoenix nodded.

"I will see them soon, and I'll tell them the truth if you won't."

The Ace Attorney gave a shrug. "Maybe. Maybe not. All I know is, definitely not today and not here. Not at a hospital, for God's sake. Do you have any _sense of timing_?"

Despite her blurred vision, she did her best to send him a wilting glare and stalked off. 'I'd trusted you to inform them long before my arrival…'

Inwardly, Phoenix breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't going to give up his family for anyone. Especially not to someone who deluded herself into thinking she was their mother.


End file.
